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Reviews
| Covered Bridges in Virginia. By Leola B. Pierce; photography by Stephen Pierce. Glen Rose, Tex.: Upstream Press (PO Box 1128, Glen Rose TX 76043), 2002. x+165 pp., diags., maps, illus., appens., bibl., index. $18.95 pb (ISBN 0-9701058-6-X).
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Leola Pierce combines the heart of a poet with the perception of an engineer in this delightful volume where she shares with us her enchantment for covered bridges. She served for many years in the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) as a bridge engineer and earlier as a draftsman (yes, the biography in the back of the book actually uses the term draftsman at one point but mentioned that Pierce supervised drafting technicians at another point).
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The book provides historical and engineering details of the nine surviving covered bridges in Virginia (although one of the nine was recently destroyed). Pierce devotes a chapter to each bridge. Each chapter opens with a poem (by Pierce) and contains a map with directions to the bridge. The directions are good; when we took our dog to the veterinary hospital at Virginia Tech we followed her directions and visited a couple of the bridges just west of Blacksburg. Each chapter's narrative documents its bridge in some detail, covering both the engineering perspective and its construction history.
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The volume's extensive bibliography shows the wide range of research that went into the work, containing many entries for each bridge as well as several general entries. Pierce consulted both primary and secondary sources, including the various books you might expect, plus newspapers, official VDOT documents, and personal interviews and papers for the privately built bridges.
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Covered Bridges in Virginia also includes several pages devoted to the general history of covered bridges and overviews of state and county history to properly set the bridges into context. An appendix provides a review of important bridge designers and especially of the truss designs they contributed to covered bridges. Another appendix lists organization addresses and Web sites for more information.
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The book includes 36 half-page photos of the bridges dealing with interesting structural details and 9 full-page photos (unnumbered pages in the center of the book), all by Stephen Pierce, the author's son. The several other illustrations range from the location maps for each bridge to truss types and a copy of the "Bill of Bolts for Biedler's Bridge," which also helped date its construction.
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5
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The index is very nicely done and comprehensive, with several subheadings for each bridge; consolidated entries for maps, photos, and poems; and cross-indexing, such as repeating a citation under "turnpikes" as well as the particular name ("Cumberland Gap Turnpike"), and even cross-references ("see also Fincastle-Cumberland Gap Turnpike").
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| This trade paperback with full-color cover will fit nicely into your glove compartment or the pocket on your car door. Keep it handy as you travel through Virginia and enjoy the covered bridges with this delightful author. |
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